Then Came War (23 page)

“I will,” Foster said. You aren’t getting rid of me that easy. I’ll be back, Jude.” He pressed his lips to her cheek and whispered, “There is nothing more in this world that I want than to have you make me stay in my room and study and give me a hard time about the girls I date.”

Emotionally, though her tears, Judith chuckled. “Hurry up and get yourself back here.”

“With everything I am,” Foster said as he clenched her tightly to him, his eyes focused on the ceiling at the sounds of war, “I promise to do my best.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ben felt as if he were living a video game. The pilot had been loaded in one Humvee behind them. As the Humvee carrying Ben and Rick swerved to avoid the gunfire and grenades, and the Sergeant filled Ben and Rick in on a lot of things.

They had chosen Agabarn as an ambush or cut off point because air searches and satellites had never shown any movement on the streets of the town.

All their evasive running, all their efforts to stay hidden to keep from being spotted by the enemy had saved them initially, but it ended up being detrimental. Residents who remained in other towns had been airlifted days before. Agabarn, it had been assumed, was deserted.

But the Sergeant let Ben know they weren’t throwing Agabarn under the bus. They just weren’t sure how they could get everyone out in time. Two trucks and air support would be arriving there in minutes.

Ben and Rick were offered the chance to leave, to get to safety, but both men opted to go back and help.

“Are you guys sure the enemy is going to head there for you to ambush and cut off?” Ben asked.

“Positive,” the sergeant replied.

“How can you be so sure, I mean …” Ben shrugged. “It’s a small town located off the main roads.” He saw the Sergeant look at him and it hit him. “You guys set it up.”

“We fed them false information that we were setting up headquarters there and that there were civilians.”

Ben closed his eyes. “What are the town’s chances?”

“We expect them to storm in, not air drop troops. We have Intel that is leading us to believe that is their plan. We planned on waiting on the ground and in air. But that has changed now.”

“You didn’t answer the question. What are the town’s chances?” Ben reiterated.

“If we don’t get there before them …” the Sergeant said. “Not good.”

***

People scurried.

At first, George informed everyone to hang tight.  He thought it could be a trick when they heard a man with a bull horn announce, “This is the United States Marine Corp and we are evacuating the town. STAT. Trucks are waiting and helicopters are arriving for the elderly, sick and young.”

“Hold tight,” George radioed his roof watchers to ask what they could see.

Lana answered. “I see trucks, quite a few of them,” she replied. “Yes, they are American.”

When George heard that, he escorted the people who waited in the basement of the school to the steps outside. He encouraged order, but so many just flew to the staircase that it made it impossible to keep the exodus totally panic free.

“What is happening, Harry?” Tyler asked.

“Well, sounds like the military is here to get us out.”

“Why?” Tyler asked, as he and Harry walked slowly through the cramped stairwell.

“My best guess is something might be going to happen, or maybe they are just being cautious. Either way, they’re getting us out of this town and taking us somewhere else.”

“Oh, no.” Tyler said with panic in his voice.

“Oh, no what?”

“I didn’t think when we came to the basement we would be moved out by the military.”

Harry was lost as to why Tyler was so upset. “Okay, what’s wrong? Are you scared?”

“A little, but that’s not it.”

“What is it?”

Tyler looked up at Harry and then looked toward the staircase filled with people. “Don’t leave without me.”

“What? What are you …” Before Harry could ask anymore, Tyler had released his hand and slipped his body with ease through the hoards of people. “Tyler!”

“I forget the box!” Tyler yelled, his voice growing fainter as he moved farther way. “I’ll be back. I have to get the box!”

“Damn it.” Harry yelled. “Tyler. Stay put!”

“I’ll be back.”

“Son of a bitch.” Harry had to follow him. He had to. While he was confident that the military was right above and they would get him, he couldn’t take that chance. He tried to squeeze through the stairwell, but he wasn’t as small or nimble as Tyler. The best he could do was keep repeating ‘excuse me’ and force himself through the people and up the steps.

***

It had been the first time in a long time that Foster had been above in the sunlight and it burned his eyes. He took the sunglasses offered to him by Manny as they reached the top level of the parking garage that would lead them out to the street.

It sounded like every war movie he had watched and any newscast of war.

Gun shots, both rapid and single, rang out. Explosions blasted.

It was obvious the battle out there was a major one.

“If you want to change your mind, now is the time to do it,” Manny told Foster.

“No. No. I’m good. I’m good.” Foster nodded, taking a breath. “It’s three blocks down and across the main road. We can do this.”

“Stay close to the buildings and move quickly.”

“I know. I know.” Forster was nervous. He didn’t have a gun; he didn’t have any kind of weapon. If he was found by the enemy, being unarmed was thought to be best. He just need to move, stay focused and move.

Manny did have a gun. He kept it under his jacket.

They inched to the garage entrance and looked out.

Buildings burned and the smoke was thick, but they didn’t see any soldiers. They saw trucks, some parked and some that had exploded.

At the entrance, with nod to one another they took off.

The plan was to just run. Run in the direction of the clinic. Once there, Manny would wait outside and Foster would get the items asked for by Doctor Baker.

He was schooled rather quickly on what he needed to get. If he couldn’t find them, then he’d have to call for Manny. But the doctor had written down all the names the IV bag he needed could possibly have on it. He was looking for Oxytocin, a drug that would help the young woman stop bleeding.

They raced as fast as they could down the sidewalk. Foster never looked back to see where Manny was. He assumed he was there.

Only twice did they see enemy soldiers and both times the enemy didn’t see them.

Foster’s heart pounded when he ran into the clinic. He literally had to stop to not only catch his breath but also to get his wits about him. The continuous shooting had him trembling.

He was certain that after this adventure it wouldn’t be hard to keep his promise to Judith.

He heard Manny outside telling him to hurry. Manny had kept up and that made Foster happy. The abortion clinic was on the second floor. The building had not been seized by either United States forces or the enemy.

It took longer than Foster expected.

He found one of the operating rooms and searched. He must have been there for a while because Manny sought him out.

“What’s going on?” Manny asked.

“I … I can’t find everything.”

“Okay, no panicking. Okay?” Manny swung his rifle around his shoulder. “Let’s look together.”

And they did.

It took several minutes, but they were able to find all of the items that the doctor told them he needed. At least they hoped they had. They shoved them in Foster’s back pack and raced out of the operating area, down the stairs and to the front lobby.

It was quiet.

The gun fire was minimal and what they did hear was in the distance.

Foster felt safe. In the lobby he nodded to Manny.

Manny peeked out, opened the door and pulled out his weapon.

Foster followed.

The moment they took a single step to the sidewalk, two shots rang out.

Manny’s body jolted from the hit. One shot struck his chest, the other his head and Manny fell instantly to the sidewalk.

Foster screamed and ran to Manny. As he knelt to check his friend, he saw eight enemy soldiers all aiming their weapons at him.

Foster dropped the bag, raised his hands and slowly stood.

***

While the roof top wasn’t that tall, it still gave Lana the advantage of seeing a good distance. She watched the United States Forces roll into town. At first it was just a couple of Humvees and then two huge trucks.

In the distance she heard helicopters. Who they belonged to, she didn’t know.

The trucks stayed in the back of the town. She watched soldiers ushering people from the school into the trucks and down the road at
The Tap
another truck was loading people. But people at the school had begun mobbing the truck, making any sort of orderly evacuation impossible.

Then she spotted Rick. He was trying to reason with the people and calm them down.

Where was Ben?

Did Ben get hurt when they went out? Where was he? She was frantic as she scanned faces, trying to recall what he was wearing so she could look for that.

Her reason for being on the roof was to be a lookout and in a sniper position should the enemy arrive. Lana forgot that duty as she visually searched for her husband and the incoming forces took her by surprise.

Binoculars scanning, looking for faces, she turned and caught a single enemy soldier in her sight.

“Just one?” she thought. She moved her binoculars a little more and let out a huge breath as she tried to access the situation so she could convey it accurately.

Behind her she saw the incoming hostile soldiers making their way forward. In front of her, she saw the United States forces were too consumed with evacuating people to see what was about to arrive.

She lifted the radio. “This is Scout 3, anyone. Is anyone there?”

“Go on.”

“We have hostiles, an entire brigade, too many to count. Trucks, tanks, all armed in battle gear are heading south. They’re hitting the gas station now.”

She received a confirmation, and then looked again at the enemy. Suddenly, their steady slower pace increased and they charged forward.

They had spotted the United States forces and town’s people.

She hurriedly switched views back to the town’s people and it was evident word had reached them. The soldiers stopped putting people in the trucks and instead, those who had not been loaded in were being ushered back into the school.

The first shot was fired. Lana took her position to shoot.

The truck by
The Tap
full and as a final person jumped in, it pulled out. As it did, she saw Ben and sighed with relief. He had been helping get people on that truck and she just hadn’t seen him.

But there he was out in the open and then …. Ben was shot.

He took a hit to the chest and stumbled some before taking another hit.

Lana screamed.

Sniper position be damned, she thought. She hurriedly shouldered her weapon, raced to the edge of the roof to the ladder and climbed down.

“Get down. Get inside!” someone shouted.

Lana heard that and the shots that followed. Not a second into her feet hitting the sidewalk, she heard a shot sing by her head.

“Get down. Get down!”

Screw that, she thought, she wasn’t listening to them. She had a block to go to get to Ben.

Screaming inside, “Oh, God. Oh, God, don’t let him be dead,“ Lana ran as fast as she could to cover the short distance.

When she arrived a soldier was dragging Ben inside
The Tap
and Lana followed.

The soldier moved quickly, laying Ben on the floor and ripping open a field bandage and pressing it to his chest.

Lana didn’t even get to call out his name. The soldier told her as soon as she entered
The Tap
, “Hold this tight.”

He referred to the bandage on the chest.

Quickly, Lana knelt down next to Ben, her hand compressing the bandage to his wound.

There was blood on the floor all around Ben.

The soldier secured another field dressing to Ben’s leg and then stood. “Stay put. Stay here. Keep pressure on that.”

Lana nodded.

The soldier rushed to the door, the bright sunlight absorbed the soldier as he disappeared into the mayhem outside.

“Ben,” Lana wept his name. “Please.”

He opened his eyes and groaned. It wasn’t a groan of pain, more one of defeat. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“This can’t be good,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Another sob and Lana lifted his head onto her lap. “It’ll be okay, it really will. You're just in shock, that’s why it doesn’t hurt. Someone will be back to help. I promise.”

“I’m not holding my breath,” he said.

“Why didn’t you go to Canada?” Lana asked. “Why?”

“Because I wouldn’t be here with you, right now,” he said.

Lana held him tighter.

His eyes shifted to look at her. His eyes were red and his face had grown pale. “You know, if I had gone, I would have never known that you were a closet Sarah Palin.”

Lana laughed and cried at the same time. “Now is not the time for jokes.”

“No, now is the perfect time for jokes,” he coughed. “We stopped joking the last couple of years. We stopped talking, too.”

“And I need you to stop talking now. Save your strength.”

Ben shook his head. “I know how bad I was shot. It’s okay. Because this moment, right now, makes it okay.”

Lana lowered her head to meet his.

“I need you to leave me,” Ben said. “Go below. Leave me.”

“No.” Lana shook her head. “I’m not leaving you. I am right here.”

“Listen to it out there. It’s war. It’s a nightmare. Listen to it.”

“I hear it,” Lana said, pausing as the pockets of thunderous explosions rang out. “And it doesn’t matter. I love you.”

It was at that second, on hearing her words that Ben sobbed. His hand reached up to her face and his fingers ran down her cheek leaving a bloody trail. He tried his best to keep his hand on her, but couldn’t. “I have loved you since the moment I met you. I have no regrets about our life. None.”